Ironing Table. (open access)

Ironing Table.

Patent for a new and improved ironing board. This design consists in "the rigid supporting-frame of an ironing-table, a cross-piece secured to the outside of the upper ends of the supports at one end of the frame, so that its upper edge shall project above the supports, an ironing-board top hinged to one side of the cross-piece, and a shelf secured to the upper edge and projecting to the opposite side of said cross-piece" (lines 86-94).
Date: October 19, 1886
Creator: Adair, Annie E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Door Fastening. (open access)

Car Door Fastening.

Patent for a new and improved car-door fastening. This design "consists in a novel construction and arrangement of a staple, a hook-hasp, key, and a key-plate, whereby several advantages are obtained . . . for securing the sliding doors of box-cars and other railway-cars" (lines 8-14).
Date: April 19, 1881
Creator: Alexander, Francis Marion
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nut Lock. (open access)

Nut Lock.

Patent for a new and improved nut-lock. This design consists in "the plate having the outstanding lugs, the retaining arms pivoted to one of said lugs, the detent between said lugs, and the locking-bolts having the head portion and the corrugated shank" (lines 64-68).
Date: June 19, 1888
Creator: Anderson, Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Corn Planter and Fertilizer Distributer. (open access)

Combined Corn Planter and Fertilizer Distributer.

Patent for a device that can be used both to plant corn and apply fertilizer to fields.
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Arnold, William Noah
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Sweep. (open access)

Cotton Sweep.

Patent for a new and improved cotton-sweep. This design "has for its object to provide a sweep which can be used either as a solid sweep or with one wing solid and the other cut away; to so construct the cut-away wing that it can be run very close to the plants without injuring them or throwing too much dirt or earth thereon to cover them, and to provide a sweep which shall be cheap, strong, durable, and effective" (lines 27-35).
Date: January 19, 1886
Creator: Awalt, Jesse C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shutter Fastener. (open access)

Shutter Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved blind fastening. This design "relates to an improvement in fastenings for outside blinds, shutters, or the like, and the purpose of [the] device is to provide a fastening that cannot be unlocked from the outside, even though slats be cut from the blinds or shutters to which the fastening is applied and two hands or arms are thrust through within reach of the said fastening. [The] fastening has two catching-latches, one locking and holding latch, and one bolt, all to be operated simultaneously when the blind is closed against the sill, [so] said blind may be released" (lines 12-24).
Date: March 19, 1889
Creator: Bachman, Joseph A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Scraper. (open access)

Cotton Scraper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton scraper. This design consists in "the vertical standard having the horizontal reardwardly-extending arm at its lower end, the cotton-scraper attached to the said arm and extending rearwardly and outwardly therefrom, and having the upturned curved broadened rear end forming the blade, and the clip-bolts and clamping-plate to secure the standard to the plow-standard and permit the said standard to be vertically adjusted" (lines 82-91).
Date: October 19, 1886
Creator: Basham, Wesley Houston
System: The Portal to Texas History
Liniment. (open access)

Liniment.

Patent for an antiseptic liniment comprised of flaxseed oil, turpentine, and sulphuric acid.
Date: February 19, 1889
Creator: Bates, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Seed Cleaner. (open access)

Cotton Seed Cleaner.

Patent for a new and improved cotton-seed cleaner. This design "is to be used in connection with a machine for removing short lint from cotton-seed . . . The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved cotton-seed cleaner, which is simple and durable in construction and very effectively removes all impurities from the shell of the seed. . . . The invention consists of a revolving horizontal disk-brush and of a fixed table provided with emery-slabs and perforated plates and in contact with the brush" (lines 8-21).
Date: March 19, 1889
Creator: Baumgarten, Christian
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buckle. (open access)

Buckle.

Patent for a new and improved buckle. This design is for a double buckle, "of such a construction that secure fastenings may be obtained, and the two ends of a strap or the adjacent ends of different straps may be readily secured together in a reliable manner, thus admitting of the speedy manufacture of sets of harnesses" (lines 13-18). This eliminates the need for rivets or stitching the strap(s).
Date: September 19, 1882
Creator: Bills, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wheeled Vehicle. (open access)

Wheeled Vehicle.

Patent for a new and improved wheeled vehicle. This design consists in "[a] one-wheeled sulky in which are combined the single wheel, the frame, the thills, the seat, the standards, and the rods or braces" (lines 54-57).
Date: June 19, 1883
Creator: Boyd, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Polishing Shoes. (open access)

Machine for Polishing Shoes.

Patent for "an improvement in machines for polishing shoes" (lines 8-9) including illustrations.
Date: February 19, 1889
Creator: Bright, Joseph Daniel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wool-Press. (open access)

Wool-Press.

Patent for a wooden machine that is used to compress wool, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Brooks, David F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Converting Motion. (open access)

Device for Converting Motion.

Patent for a new and improved motion converter. This design "has relation to mechanical movements for converting a reciprocating into a rotary motion so as to impart a steady and regular motion to such machinery as windmills and engines, churning and washing machines, as well as to all other motors to which it may be applied; and the novelty consists in the construction of the same" (lines 9-16).
Date: September 19, 1882
Creator: Brown, James F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed-Planter. (open access)

Seed-Planter.

Patent for a seed-planter, with illustrations. The "invention relates to an improved seed-planter, adapted to be attached to and operated in connection with any ordinary plow for planting wheat, corn, cotton, or other seed (line 25-28).
Date: December 19, 1882
Creator: Brown, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for "new and useful Improvements in Baling-Presses" (lines 5-6) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 19, 1889
Creator: Bywaters, Joseph K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Advertising Device. (open access)

Advertising Device.

Patent for a new and improved advertising sign. This design "consist[s] in the fixed staff or upright having pulley, bent rotary vane having the opening, and adapted for the display of advertisements, inside [the] bent rotary vane, and the governor adapted to regulate automatically the speed at which the vanes are to revolve" (lines 68-80).
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Carly, John Wesly
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sheep-Dip. (open access)

Sheep-Dip.

Patent for "a new composition of matter for the treatment of 'scab' on sheep or for other animals subject to like diseases" (lines 9-11) which lists the ingredients and measurements and instructions.
Date: June 19, 1883
Creator: Carpenter, Peter M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bed Frame Brace. (open access)

Bed Frame Brace.

Patent for a new and improved brace for bed frames. This design "consists in providing a transverse slat at each of its ends with a pair of diverging hooks, the same to be connected to the rail on each side by means of screw-eyes, and thereby preventing the bedstead from spreading, bracing it transversely and obliquely" (lines 19-25).
Date: September 19, 1882
Creator: Clark, Chester Cady
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Cultivator. (open access)

Rotary Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved rotary cultivator. This design is "to lessen the weight on tongue and the down draft while the power is applied more directly to the plows. By this means [the design is] enabled to make the whole frame very light; also, to provide convenient means of adjusting the altitude of the wheels with respect to the plows, so as to regulate the depth of the latter, and also to hold them out of the ground; also, to obtain suitable means for adjusting the plows at any desirable angle to the line of travel, and to throw greater or less soil to or from the plants" (lines 15-26).
Date: July 19, 1887
Creator: Coleman, Benjamin T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate. (open access)

Gate.

Patent for a new and improved gate. This design "relates to improvements in that class of gates in which the gate is suspended from and adapted to transverse a supporting-beam adapted to oscillate and cause the gate to travel back and forth by gravity, according to the position the beam occupies, and has for its object to provide a gate and its operating mechanism which shall be simple and durable in construction, and capable of being readily and easily operated by a horse[back rider] or driver of a team approaching the same from either direction" (lines 9-20).
Date: May 19, 1885
Creator: Connelly, William E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Watch-Case Bow (open access)

Watch-Case Bow

Patent for improvements in fastenings for bows of watch-cases.
Date: March 19, 1889
Creator: Cooper, Jonathan H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Chair. (open access)

Chair.

Patent for a new and improved knockdown chair. This design of a knockdown chair (a chair that isn't fully assembled until at its destination so that it may be collapsible, saving space until then) marks improvements over previous models. This design calls for side-rails that extend through the mortises and countersunk apertures so that the ends of the side-rails can expand in the countersinks.
Date: October 19, 1880
Creator: Creager, Frank A.W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Steam Engine. (open access)

Rotary Steam Engine.

Patent for a new and improved rotary steam engine. This design "first, provide[s] a novel form of valve for regulating the induction and eduction of steam to and from the cylinder; second, [it] provide[s] novel devices for reversing the movements of the rotating pistons; and, third, [it] provide[s] novel combinations of the parts of which the engine is composed"
Date: July 19, 1881
Creator: Cross, David L.
System: The Portal to Texas History